Regional Narcotics Suppression Program

The Sheriff's Department would purchase a $250,000 airplane for use by the Regional Narcotics Suppression Program under a proposal that the Board of Supervisors will consider next week. The fixed-wing aircraft would be "an aerial surveillance platform for ground units tracking sophisticated and adept narcotics smugglers," according to a county report.

The Sheriff's Department would purchase a $250,000 airplane for use by the Regional Narcotics Suppression Program under a proposal that the Board of Supervisors will consider next week. The fixed-wing aircraft would be "an aerial surveillance platform for ground units tracking sophisticated and adept narcotics smugglers," according to a county report.

In six years, Orange County's top narcotics task force has seized more drug money than nearly every other local law enforcement agency in the nation. It has confiscated tons of cocaine, collected an arsenal of guns and arrested hundreds of major drug traffickers. So why, despite the efforts of the Regional Narcotics Suppression Program, are drugs still flowing into the county in large quantities?

August 1, 1993 | HOWARD WAITZKIN and JEAN FORBATH, Dr. Howard Waitzkin is a professor of internal medicine and social sciences at UC Irvine. Jean Forbath is past chairwoman of the Orange County Human Relations Commission and past director of Share Our Selves. and

It's almost a truism to state that a society's priorities and values are clearly reflected in the budgets they adopt. The Orange County Board of Supervisors believes that the budget it passes each year does just that. We think many residents would disagree and declare that spending over 50% of county dollars on public protection and only 8% on health care, and closing public libraries while leaving vast flood control district dollar reserves untouched, do not reflect our values. Although public safety obviously is a high priority to Orange County voters, this prioritizing does not mean that waste should be permitted in the public protection budget.

The top police officer in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, met this week with an Orange County narcotics task force on how to coordinate a range of different law enforcement agencies to fight together against drugs. John A. Blaauw, 59, chief police commissioner of the Rotterdam Police Department, stopped in the county as part of a five-week Dutch government-sponsored world tour to find out how other law enforcement agencies fight drug trafficking.

August 1, 1993 | HOWARD WAITZKIN and JEAN FORBATH, Dr. Howard Waitzkin is a professor of internal medicine and social sciences at UC Irvine. Jean Forbath is past chairwoman of the Orange County Human Relations Commission and past director of Share Our Selves. and

It's almost a truism to state that a society's priorities and values are clearly reflected in the budgets they adopt. The Orange County Board of Supervisors believes that the budget it passes each year does just that. We think many residents would disagree and declare that spending over 50% of county dollars on public protection and only 8% on health care, and closing public libraries while leaving vast flood control district dollar reserves untouched, do not reflect our values. Although public safety obviously is a high priority to Orange County voters, this prioritizing does not mean that waste should be permitted in the public protection budget.

While President Bush was delivering Orange County's share of money confiscated by police, a narcotics agent who originally seized the drug bounty last year reflected Tuesday on illegal drugs, big money and the dangerous lives of investigators who wage the daily undercover war on narcotics. "Until 3 years ago, or 4 years ago when Nancy Reagan got real strong on drugs," no one seemed to care very much about the problem, said Frank Becker, a member of Orange County's Regional Narcotics Suppression Program task force that seized $5.2 million in illicit funds in raids on Feb. 10 and 11, 1988.

April 9, 1989 | AMY STARK, Amy Stark is a Tustin clinical psychologist who counsels adolescents and their parents on childhood adjustment problems

Stop! Look! Listen! These three words can save your child's life. That's because, with effort, these three words will remind you, as a concerned parent, to take time from your own busy schedule to find out what's going on in your child's life. Just what is Johnny reading? Just what is Johnny doing? Unfortunately, if Johnny is a county high school student, he may be doing drugs. Statistics show that eight out of 10 high school students have tried drugs before graduation; five out of 10 are regular users.

Their badges wrapped in black bands of mourning, police officers from throughout the West gathered Monday for a tearful tribute to Officer Howard Ellsworth Dallies Jr., who was gunned down last week during an apparent routine traffic stop. Dallies, a veteran officer who helped train recruits and was soon to be promoted to sergeant, was remembered as a "fallen hero" in a moving ceremony at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove.

In six years, Orange County's top narcotics task force has seized more drug money than nearly every other local law enforcement agency in the nation. It has confiscated tons of cocaine, collected an arsenal of guns and arrested hundreds of major drug traffickers. So why, despite the efforts of the Regional Narcotics Suppression Program, are drugs still flowing into the county in large quantities?

While President Bush was delivering Orange County's share of money confiscated by police, a narcotics agent who originally seized the drug bounty last year reflected Tuesday on illegal drugs, big money and the dangerous lives of investigators who wage the daily undercover war on narcotics. "Until 3 years ago, or 4 years ago when Nancy Reagan got real strong on drugs," no one seemed to care very much about the problem, said Frank Becker, a member of Orange County's Regional Narcotics Suppression Program task force that seized $5.2 million in illicit funds in raids on Feb. 10 and 11, 1988.

April 9, 1989 | AMY STARK, Amy Stark is a Tustin clinical psychologist who counsels adolescents and their parents on childhood adjustment problems

Stop! Look! Listen! These three words can save your child's life. That's because, with effort, these three words will remind you, as a concerned parent, to take time from your own busy schedule to find out what's going on in your child's life. Just what is Johnny reading? Just what is Johnny doing? Unfortunately, if Johnny is a county high school student, he may be doing drugs. Statistics show that eight out of 10 high school students have tried drugs before graduation; five out of 10 are regular users.

The top police officer in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, met this week with an Orange County narcotics task force on how to coordinate a range of different law enforcement agencies to fight together against drugs. John A. Blaauw, 59, chief police commissioner of the Rotterdam Police Department, stopped in the county as part of a five-week Dutch government-sponsored world tour to find out how other law enforcement agencies fight drug trafficking.

The Sheriff's Department's narcotics program will receive $1.14 million of more than $10 million allocated by the federal government to help Southern California agencies fight drug trafficking. The money will go to Orange County's Regional Narcotics Suppression Program. The rest will go to programs in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. "So, if you're in the business of trafficking in drugs, life's about to get a whole lot tougher for you," Sen.

Orange County officials said Friday that the county's Regional Narcotics Suppression Program resulted in 456 arrests and the seizure of almost $145 million in drug money in the past four years. The program, designed to coordinate the drug enforcement work of local agencies with those at the state and federal levels, also led to the seizure of 61,761 pounds of cocaine, 33 pounds of heroin, and 3,537 pounds of marijuana.